Women suffer minor injuries in Hyde Park fire

Two women suffered minor injuries in an extra-alarm fire that broke out Saturday night at a Hyde Park neighborhood highrise.

Dozens of firefighters were called to the Regents Park building in the 5000 block of South Lake Shore Drive just before 8:45 p.m., officials said.

The fire, which rose to a 2-11 alarm coupled with a request for additional medical help, was confined to a single apartment on the building's 17th floor, though heavy smoke affected apartments above the fire floor, said fire department spokesman, Chief Joe Roccasalva.

Two women, ages 62 and 68, were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, Roccasalva said. Both Roccasalva and police officials described the women as senior citizens with pre-existing health conditions more shaken up by the incident than physically harmed.

The blaze was struck out at about 10:15 p.m. The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known.